Review: Meanwell HRP-600 Series

[Green Machine]

No none so far but have only used it a few times so far.

Have you had over heating issues?

[StJaux]

Only got the units yesterday. I am in the process of creating a 2E2 900watt dummy load, I want to see what the HRP-600's can do.

32 x 3.6V = 115.2V / 3 = 38.4V, 38.4V / 17.5A (HRP-600-32 is adjusted to 38.4V and rated for 17.5A) = 2.19ohm, ~ 2E2

GM, do you have any idea how much current you are pulling out of your 48V unit? ( it is rated for 13A )

[Kingfish]

Gents,

I have seen my units overheat twice. The first time was accidental when I set the unit on end and prevented proper air flow. The second time was in Bend, Oregon when I was charging in the full heat of broad daylight on a wide sidewalk against a metal wall: Think frying pan-hot! In both cases the units simply shut down. Allow them to cool and they will resume.

When they approach the end, the fans will slow down. I have two in series so one will cut out before the other. Eventually they wind on down. My cross-country pack is so large though that this takes a while to completely shut down. There is a trickle of current that remains – though continues to decline. Several times I have forgotten to disconnect the charger and it simply goes into a maintenance-mode; it sounds like clicking as the internal circuitry periodically checks the charge and clicks off.

Whatever you set the voltage limits to – this will be the final voltage when it shuts down. The only way to over-volt/overcharge is by human error when setting the device.

On the Road – this has been a faithful unit. In hindsight I would probably select a higher wattage device to speed my charge: For my commuter pack – this is plenty-fast! For cross-country – it’s a little slow; the circuit can handle more. The day that I went 187 miles to Fresno with a one-hour top-off took 10 hours to recharge that pack. For cross-country, you have to get on the stick right away and setup recharging ASAP for the next day.

One other item that I do wish to point out is that the little screws holding the wires in place can be troublesome. These units are designed for static operation and not for packing around with wires dangling off. There needs to be some mechanism to provide a strain-relief, else the wires will pull out, or worse - jack with the screw causing the capture nut below to dislodge and the clamping aspect to disappear.

It’s a good series though with lots of promise. I am already dreaming of how to use them with my next concept.

Best regards, KF

[StJaux]

I managed to get information on setting the CC value of the HRP's from Meanwell. There are two 0806 1% SMD resistors on the daughter board that need replacing.

The issue is the design wattage of the PSU - if you use it with the V out set higher than the design value, you got to bring the CC value of the output amps down using the mod to keep output power to the design value. If you set the V out to less, no problem of course.

Anybody want the info, let me know.

-- StJ

[Hillhater]

Its possibly been discussed before, but how do the BMC chargers compare to these modified meanwells ?
http://www.bmsbattery.com/alloy-shell/2 ... arger.html
With such a huge difference in price, there must be a reason ??

[StJaux]

I have a substantial investment in batteries and I would rather use "chargers" from a company I have known for many years and whose products I have been using successfully many times in various projects all over the planet.

This BMC chargers is dirt cheap and my common sense tells me to be cautious. I have a pretty good idea what components cost and it is not possible to profitably produce with "good" components at that price. The certificates they have on their website looks home made without the proper official "chap" all certified products in mainland China get.

The Meanwell PSU's are well designed and documented - the HRP is a CC/CV power supply where you can use your brains and set the CC and CV values *exactly* to what the battery pack require. Also, the HRP's has power factor correction which make them very economical in terms of energy cost in the long run.

My experience with these cheap general purpose, general chemical battery chargers is that they are generally not good at all and I simply do not generally trust them. If you insist on using these, I would suggest a simple test - buy one (they certainly are cheap enough) and run it against the rails for 24 hours into a dummy load (max I at max V) and see if they survive.

I would be careful - there are two things that kill lithium polymer batteries - over voltage on charging and under voltage on discharging. If you look at the welfare of your batteries, they would last for a long time and give pleasurable and reliable service.

--StJ

[Hillhater]

Many ES posters have reported using these ..BMC/ "King Pan" /"King power"/ EV power chargers with good results.
They are CV/CC units with full adjustment for fine tuning voltage and current.
They are supplied ( under a range of brand names) by various battery retailers as recommended chargers.
I agree the price does make you suspicious, but they do appear to have a track record.
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=26859&p=391296#p391296
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=30892
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=13571

[StJaux]

Most interesting! I think it might be worth while investigating, I will get one of these units and do a detail test. Thanks for the info!

--StJ

[neptronix]

Dear mr. fisher...

I am currently agonizing over which charger to use now. My meanwell NES shunt shave was basically a failure. Any kind of current limiting results in a loud whine and unstable current

I wonder if you can do a little shunt shaving on these models.

Would you do me a favor and open one of these up, and show me the shunts? if there are 2-4 shunts, then it's awfully similar to the S series, and maybe it could be modded to dump out an amp or two less, preventing overheating. Maybe if there is space, a lower RPM fan can be fitted, in addition to another lower RPM fan in the front to compensate, which would really help with the noise level..

Like you, i want to do the ultra long distance thing. Would rather have this than a BMSBattery charger.

[neptronix]

Might be irrelevant..

They sell the HRPG series now.
Which means they probably pulled some BS and modified it to not do current limiting very well..

[Doctorbass]

These Meanwell are some of the top psu we can get.

I am surprized that the 600W outpt require as high as 1000W input that's only 60% eff!

ON teh RSP serie that i have, it's more like 90% efficiency... I can get 1600W output from a 15A 120V socket

1600/1800= 90% eff

As well it's the 48V model that deliver the best efficiency over all voltage availlable from the RSP serie.

Highest output i got was 1725W DC at the end of charge just before the end of CC stage. It was when i connected it to a public exterior outlet on a gouvernment building i think they have 20A circuit...

The efficiciency is due to the power factor corrector PFC option that correct the phase angle between the input current and voltage due to the inductive load of these smps..

Without that pfc the efficiency drop alot.

I found it really worth paying extra$ for a model that have this option. .. or at least for people that expect to charge at 1000W or above

Doc

[neptronix]

Doc; can yours be shunt shaved a little so that it doesn't output 105-120% the rated current for the model?
Also does the fan sound like a jet taking off?

I may order the RSP-1000..

[neptronix]

( but i doubt the old wiring of this house will handle what the RSP will dump into my batteries!! )

[Doctorbass]

Doc; can yours be shunt shaved a little so that it doesn't output 105-120% the rated current for the model?
Also does the fan sound like a jet taking off?

I may order the RSP-1000..

No, no shunt was modded on any of my RSP 750, RSP 1000 or RSP1500.

On the RSP 1000 i get 1250Wout continuous and on the 1500 i get 1650Wout continuous average

The dual fan on the 1000 are a little more higher pitch noice due to their size.. but believe me... it's pure fun hearing them indicating that BIG JUICE is going into the battery

I would say that the fan noise is medium on them.. I ever heard lower noise psu and also higher noise psu...

Apparently meanwell have a model of 2000W the same size as the 1000W !!

The actual 1000W i have is 50% more power per cu inch than the 1500W. The 1000W is half size ( 1U) of the the 1500W ( 2U)

Doc

[neptronix]

I did not know that they ever sold a 750W version - that would be perfect. Are you interested in selling yours?

[Doctorbass]

I did not know that they ever sold a 750W version - that would be perfect. Are you interested in selling yours?

Well what have you for trade or offer?

Doc